What Panthers coach Ron Rivera can learn from Doug Pederson

If there’s at least one thing Carolina Panthers head coach Ron Rivera and Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson have in common, it’s that both have ties to the City of Brotherly Love. Obviously, Pederson is there now, while Rivera spent five seasons (1999-2003) as linebackers coach for the Eagles, eight years before he became head coach of the Panthers (with stops in Chicago and San Diego in between).

However, their coaching styles are certainly not similar by any means. But what if there were some tactics used by the reigning Super Bowl-winning head coach that Rivera could employ?

Let’s take a look at some things Rivera can learn from Philadelphia’s head man.

More aggressive on fourth down

By now, everyone in the world has seen the epic Philly Special play in Super Bowl LII, a key turning point that led to the Eagles winning their first championship since 1960. And some of that aggressiveness has carried over into 2018 as Pederson continues to balk at the old-school way of thinking.

That being said, the Eagles have attempted two more fourth downs than the Panthers (six to four) and have converted 66.7 percent of those fourth downs, whereas the Panthers are 50/50.

But it’s the way the Eagles seemingly just get after it on fourth down. There’s that aura of confidence that Pederson has something up his sleeve that will convert the first down. The Panthers aren’t there yet, but now they have play-makers on offense that can allow them to get creative and more aggressive on fourth-down opportunities.

“Carolina Special”?

What about if the Panthers ran their own version of Philly Special? Of course, Norv Turner would be involved in this decision too, but it would still be neat if Rivera wanted to take, say, D.J. Moore or Christian McCaffrey and Ian Thomas and line them up in the backfield and let Cam Newton run some sort of route.

And let’s be honest, Newton’s frame would allow him to box out just about any other defender he’d potentially be matched up against. He’s even bigger than a vast majority of linebackers in the NFL, let alone defensive backs. It’d be a fun play for the Panthers to tinker with.

Two-tight end sets

As successful as Carolina has been using “11” personnel (one running back, one tight end), perhaps they can start utilizing more the Eagles model of more two-tight end sets, particularly “12” personnel (one running back, two tight ends). Greg Olsen continues to be Newton’s security blanket and Ian Thomas fared well while Olsen missed time with his foot injury.

Is the Olsen/Thomas pairing as talented as the Eagles duo of Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert? That’s debatable, at the very least. But it’s certainly enough to put a little extra strain on defenses.

So far, according to Warren Sharp, the Eagles have ran “12” personnel on 36 percent of their offensive snaps this season, while the Panthers have only ran it 14 percent of the time. There’s no question “11” personnel has been very well and the key component of the Panthers offense. But down the line, “12” could be in Carolina’s game-plan more once Thomas is more developed.